After earning his BA in journalism from Boston University 25 years ago, Brochstein has focused on covering business topics such as about consumer products and product marketplaces, as well as consumer technology and multimedia.

He was Senior Editor of Television Digest (a newsletter for the broadcast cable and consumer product marketplaces), Retail Editor & Consumer Electronics Editor at Fairchild Publications, and he also wrote for International Thompson Retail Fashion Press.

In 1996, Brochstein was hired as Editor of the Licensing Letter and has been with EPM Communications ever since. In June 2002 he was named Editorial Director of EPM Communications.

-> Current editorial coverage

Brochstein says, “Tool is a word I use a lot when I describe the content of our publications. A key element is nitty-gritty deal information on who’s doing what with whom. We always include very specific contact information on the featured subjects so readers can dash off an email or call the person they’re reading about.”

“Because none of our publications take advertising there’s no political agenda. We’re a service organization and we’re free to pursue what our readers need to know help them do jobs better. Editorially, that means examining the critical issues in various marketplaces – the challenges and concerns, spotting trends, analyzing new developments, and interpreting consumer behavior.”

Details on each of the six publications:

#1. Entertainment Marketing

For entertainment marketers: From movies, live theater, and television; as well those who use entertainment tie-ins as a vehicle to cross-promote. It includes opportunities and trends in entertainment-based sponsorship, online promotions, direct response sales, product placement, interactivity, and product sampling.

The ‘Contacts & Connections’ section links readers with key decision-makers at packaged goods, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, travel, and other firms, as well as film studios, music companies, home video labels, ad agencies, and media networks.

#2. The Licensing Letter

Covers consumer products and the licensing industry with the latest on agents, property owners, and manufacturers. Licensing activity is broken down by property type and product category with details on new business leads and insider strategy. Feature topics include sports licensing, fashion, corporate trademarks and grants, music, entertainment personages, and celebrities.

“The newsletter is driven by the $70 billion dollar per year retail market in the U.S.,” Brochstein says, “It’s meant as a marketing tool that businesses use to understand those industries.”

#3. Marketing to the Emerging Majorities

Formerly known as Minority Market Alert, this newsletter covers marketing to Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans as well as other emerging minorities in the US. “In general, it’s about the ways people are doing business and approaching those marketplaces,” says Brochstein. That includes what minorities are buying, activities they enjoy, their customs, as well as how their families are coping with new attitudes and economic realities.

#4. Marketing to Women

Its goal is to help marketers attract more female consumers (who influence more than 80% of all sales) with trends in marketing, the latest advertising programs, and industry-by-industry proprietary data.

#5. Research Alert

“Presents, digests, and compacts presentations of marketing related research concerning the U.S. marketplace,” Brochstein says. There is no original research but every issue contains critical highlights from more than 20 reports, surveys, and studies. It is meant to be an instrument for researchers with coverage of what Americans are buying, watching, eating, wearing, driving; trends in how they are conducting their lives.

#6. Youth MarketsCovers the critical trends among pre-adult Americans through a combination of original reporting and research on marketing to youth. It provides a comprehensive look at the current trends in youth marketing, abstracts of key demographic and psychographic research, case studies of who is doing what, and lists of contacts so readers can follow-up with sources and deal-makers.

-> Best way to pitch a story:

“If someone wants to pitch us they better have something very valuable for our readers within the parameters of a niche market we cover,” says Brochstein.

With the exception of the very occasional case study, they rarely feature a story about a single company. “We might do a sidebar,” says Brochstein. “But on the whole our feature stories are going to be trend and analysis.”

In general, they do not take outside submissions, as the newsletters are entirely staff written.

-> How to become a regular columnist:

There are not any.

-> Best way to contact Brochstein or his staff:

Email is by far the best way.

-> Deadlines

For the 22x year newsletters, send ten days prior to publish dates which are on the first and third week of every month. For monthly publications figure about two weeks out from the publish date at the beginning of the month.

-> Where you can meet Brochstein or his staff:

They attend all the relevant trade shows for the various marketplaces. The staff also stages conferences of their own such as the EPM Entertainment Marketing Conference the second week of November in LA. The Licensing Letter exhibits at the annual licensing show in NY during June.

-> What Brochstein looks for in an online pressroom:

“I rarely go to them,” Brochstein says. “That’s because I’m looking for is answers to specific questions. It’s the same thing I look for when I call up a PR person — I want answers to my questions not something that’s already there.”

-> What Brochstein looks for in print press materials:

“Clarity is key. I don’t want to have to go through reams of paper to find what’s relevant to my marketplace. A writer shouldn’t make you guess as to what they really mean. Too often we make a mistake and go back to the print materials and realize it is because the writer was trying to get too creative or was just unclear in their communication.”

-> Favorite professional publication:

“I regularly search AOL news, religiously read the NY Times in print, as well as The Wall Street Journal in print, and the Financial Times online.”

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